


No Regrets

by nelayn



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 03:06:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nelayn/pseuds/nelayn
Summary: My first foray into Tolkien fanfic from...5 years ago, now? I want to thank Jess, for luring me into the joys of the fandom, and for everything else. I asked her to write me a story about Galadriel and Finarfin meeting in the war of wrath, and she delivered so beautifully, so...this was my response. I really want to think these two had a chance to meet and...realize how similar motivations they have, even though those motivations have lead them in wildly different directions. This is my take on Galadriel staying in Middle Earth for many more reasons other than pride or bitterness.





	No Regrets

“Why do you stay?” he asked her.

There was no bitterness in his voice, and she loved him for it. But she knew he ached for her, and for the fate she had chosen for herself. Not accusing her. And in that moment, she remembered how proud she was of him. People talked of her as proud, but if there was anything in all of Arda she was most proud of, it was being her father’s daughter. Daughter of Arafinwe, gentle, loving, peaceful and wise, who rarely showed the power simmering beneath the surface and who made his own choices for all the right reasons. And she knew they were right, because now she felt as he had. Now she knew. 

“Why did you?” she asked him back. He looked deep into her eyes, and she let herself drown in his steady gaze. 

“I stayed for my people. And…” his voice trailed. He needed not say it. (for you mother, his eyes told her).

It was not fear of the Doom that made him turn back, she knew, even then. Her father, son of Finwe, brother of Fingolfin, was no coward. She had never blamed him for it. But now, at last, she could understand him. 

“You stayed because your heart told you that you had no other choice. That is what my heart tells me also, Atar. The one I love will not leave Middle Earth, ravaged and ruined by war, no more than mother would leave Alqualonde. And his people, they are now my people also. The story of Middle Earth is not yet finished, and neither is my part in it. There are yet deeds to be done in the days to come.” (She told him not of the silver haired girl she saw dancing in her dreams.) She felt the tears well in her eyes.

“ I thought I wanted glory once, and people to rule. But all I needed was to find myself and were I belonged in this Arda Marred. And I feel… I feel that for now, I still belong here.”

The tears were clouding her eyes now. The proud and mighty Lady Galadriel never cried. But this was little Artanis again, seeking her father’s protection from dark dreams she knew not how to stop. She felt him reach for her, and she burried herself in his embrace, feeling his presence envelope her, his peaceful and radiant mind. Oh, how she had missed him!

He was crying too, she felt his tears through her hair. They sat there for a while, grieving together for all that was lost, and everyone. Her father was no warrior, in the past. But he had lost as she had, and his path had been no less full of struggles than hers. He was not Feanor the mighty, or Fingolfin the great, but he was strong. Stronger than the foundations of the earth.

She borrowed from his strength, and at last she stood back from his embrace, but withdrew not her mind from him. His gentle eyes spoke more than words ever could. And that message mattered the most to her, and made her fears vanish. 

“I am proud of you, my Artanis”, it said. “Of all that you have done, and all you will do. Your mother and I will be waiting.”

“I will come back, father. My promise has not changed.”, she repeated. 

He smiled at her, and the grief seemed to leave his face for I while. 

“Tell me more about your husband then.”

She smiled back. If there was anything in the world she was certain of, it was that her father would like her husband very much. She had so much to tell… Maybe they had only moments, but for now, they were together. And she wasn’t going to waste them. She knew better, now.


End file.
